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Will it be another celebration or a wake around the Air Canada Centre tomorrow?

For all the lessons the young Maple Leafs have absorbed about playoffs — taking two of three in Boston, playing through pain (see Dion Phaneuf on Friday) and mastering momentum swings — they’ve not grasped the vital part about winning at home.

In fact, they have picked an awful time to go on a season-high four-game losing streak at the ACC. That includes two regular-season tilts where wins would have avoided the grouchy Bruins altogether for the beatable Habs and then two losses to Boston that leave no wiggle room for another setback.

Their response in Game 5 is what Bruins coach Claude Julien lamented his team should have had — a strong start, skates churning and two goals from hustle. And at the end of Toronto’s 2-1 win, their captain was in pain, the shot clock once more hit the 40s and the last few shifts looked liked Custer’s Last Stand.

The Leafs, half of whom had not seen the playoffs until this month, won’t get a better primer on what life in the fast lane is like and what is still to come this weekend. From the brink of elimination to possibly three games in four nights into a second round, this is an eye-opening 72 hours.

So much the better for coach Randy Carlyle that so many newcomers to the NHL’s second season were part of Game 5’s improbable win — James Reimer in net, Tyler Bozak and Clarke MacArthur scoring and Jake Gardiner’s team-high 24 minutes of ice.

“We want it, we want to keep going,” MacArthur said Saturday after his game-winner brought the Leafs back here with a strong pulse. “In Boston, it was: ‘Let’s win, let’s get back home’. Now we’re here, now we’re going to work again.”

If Toronto does manage to extend the series again on Sunday night, Game 7 would be back in Boston on Monday. But getting there requires passing the next part of their playoff exam — making the ACC work for them.

Somehow, despite all the hype in town, the car flags, the vibe in the ACC and the game-night mosh pit at Maple Leaf Square, they lost both home dates. Yet, Carlyle was pleased it was Game 4 goat Phaneuf who put out one of the most hearty efforts two nights later.

“Everybody in the hockey world knew of the miscue in the previous game,” Carlyle said. “But we felt in the situation we were presented with, it was time to flush it and that’s what we did. And the response was as we expected. He’s a professional, he has pride, he represents out club, he plays big minutes and he went out and did that. We didn’t ask for anything more than a little more than ordinary and he was that.”

Captain Phaneuf was just one of the Leafs referred to by the media as “gingerly” returning to the bench after some long shifts. But at around 25 minutes a game (21:38 on Friday), he doesn’t want to take a lesser role on a thin blueline.

“Neuf is a heart-and-soul player who will do whatever it takes to win,” goalie James Reimer said. “He had a couple of key blocks (Friday).”

MacArthur was a Game 2 scratch after an eight-year wait with the Sabres and Leafs to see his first NHL playoff action. He then stepped up with goals in consecutive games, including a nifty deke on Tuukka Rask in Game 5.

Tyler Bozak, meanwhile, pumped in a short-handed goal, then sweated out a delay of game penalty for putting a puck over the glass in a panicked clearing attempt.

“In the do-or-die game, win or lose, you’re always getting some experience,” MacArthur said. “To come out on top was the cherry on top. But at the same time, it’s over now. We have to respond and do it again (Sunday) because we know Boston will be desperate.”

The Leafs need to win, then fly right back to Boston and do it again Monday to become just the second Toronto team to escape a 3-1 disadvantage in a best-of-seven. The first was the 1942 Leafs, who came all the way back from 0-3 to beat Detroit for the Cup.

“You don’t take anything for granted,” Reimer said of Game 6 at home. “It’s been a hard-fought series and Boston’s going to come hard again tomorrow. That’s what the playoffs are about.”

They’re also about plugging in to a transformer in your own rink. The crowd has done its part at the traditionally sedate ACC, enduring nine years, two lockouts and a playoff ticket price jack. Now it’s up to the Leafs.

“This building has come a long way and we can always use that extra noise,” Carlyle said. “We want this to be a tough building to come into and we’d love to continue to do that deep into the playoffs.”

As Advertised in the Winnipeg SUN

Maple Leafs look to turn tide at home

Will it be another celebration or a wake around the Air Canada Centre tomorrow?

For all the lessons the young Maple Leafs have absorbed about playoffs — taking two of three in Boston, playing through pain (see Dion Phaneuf on Friday) and mastering momentum swings — they’ve not grasped the vital part about winning at home.

In fact, they have picked an awful time to go on a season-high four-game losing streak at the ACC. That includes two regular-season tilts where wins would have avoided the grouchy Bruins altogether for the beatable Habs and then two losses to Boston that leave no wiggle room for another setback.